Gale Hawthorne Must Die
by kkaylawrites
Summary: Madge Undersee's quiet life is turned upside down when she catches the womanizing Gale Hawthorne in action. She is somehow pulled into helping two victims of Gale's womanizing tendencies by teaching him a lesson. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) what begins as a plan of revenge quickly turns into something more. Highschool AU Gadge. Loosely based on the movie 'John Tucker Must Die'.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. The characters are from Suzanne Collin's novel The Hunger Games and the basic plot was inspired by the movie John Tucker Must Die.**

Madge Undersee was used to keeping to herself. The little things that she thought mattered about herself didn't seem to matter to the rest of the people in the crummy little district she was born and raised in. Nobody cared about her stellar academic records when she wasn't a sports star. Nobody cared that she could play the piano when she refused to play in front of an audience. Nobody cared that she was the Mayor's daughter when she could barely choke out a coherent sentence in front of a crowd.

Madge was used to fading into the background and liked it that way.

In other words Madge was nothing like Glimmer Sterling, the school's gorgeous cheerleading captain who was currently kissing the most popular boy in their school-Gale Hawthorne.

Madge had entered the school library after school as usual and picked a back table in the library to avoid any distractions from finishing her homework. Glimmer and Gale entered a couple minutes after her and picked a back table as well, but for completely different reasons.

Madge could feel herself blush as she heard a breathy moan from Glimmer. Madge screwed her eyes shut and mentally willed the loud couple to leave. She would have stood up and walked away herself, except it was too late to leave now without drawing attention to herself. She didn't want to be that one awkward girl interrupt a hot and heavy make out session. To be completely honest, she wasn't entirely sure if Gale and Glimmer even knew that she was there. Madge had a way of blending into the background and the two teenagers were obviously too preoccupied with sucking each other to pay attention to anything or anybody else.

Besides, this was _her_ territory. Why should she be the one to walk away when she had claimed this seat at this exact time every single day for the past two years whereas Gale and Glimmer had never set foot into the library before?

Madge shuffled her papers around, making sure to rustle her papers unnecessarily loudly. She peeked over to see if the couple had heard and hoped that they got the hint and moved to find a different make out spot, only to be met with the sight of Gale's hand inching suspiciously close to the bottom of Glimmer's cheerleading uniform.

Madge quickly gathered her things and speed walked out of the library as fast as she could. She cursed herself for not walking away sooner when she realized that the couple hadn't even parted for air, much less than look up at the sound of her departure. The disgusted blonde started walking home while grumbling under her breath about hormonal teenagers and the lost respect for school grounds. She was about half way home when she couldn't help but think that her backpack was weirdly light that day. It was then that she realized that she had accidentally left behind her laptop in her hurry to escape the library.

She stood in the middle of the street as she considered both of her options. Her first option was to continue on with her way home and stop by the library tomorrow morning to pick up her laptop. That was of course, assuming that nobody had stolen it before she got there. Her second option was to walk back to the school and retrieve her laptop now. If it had been any other day Madge would have gone with option two without another thought, but the mental image of Gale and Glimmer sucking each other's faces was enough to make her rethink her decision. A quick glance towards her watch told her that it had already been fifteen minutes since she had left school grounds. Surely that would have been an ample amount of time for the couple to swap saliva and leave her sacred study spot alone? Hoping she was right, Madge turned and retraced her steps back to the school.

When she arrived she saw that Glimmer was gone, but Gale was still there-locking lips with a different girl.

_Holy crap_, Madge thought to herself in a mix of shock and disgust. And okay, maybe a bit of awe. How did he do it? He managed to kiss two more people in the span of thirty minutes than Madge had in 16 years. As handsome as Gale Hawthorne was, how was it humanly possible to pick up two different girls in such a short amount of time? And not any random girls at that, but Glimmer Sterling and Johanna Mason of all people.

Johanna had a reputation that was just impressive as Glimmer's, but in a different way. Johanna was not a cheerleader but she was known and feared for her sharp tongue that didn't know how to hold back. Madge had even heard rumors that Johanna had made a senior boy cry on the second day of her freshman year. She was the only girl that Madge knew of that could scare and attract boys all at the same time.

In her shock, Madge almost forgot why she had came back to the library. She stood there with her jaw dropped to the ground until the couple in front of her abruptly pulled apart to stare right back at her.

"Are you just going to stand there all day?" Johanna snapped. It took Madge a couple of seconds to realize that she was talking to her.

"Oh! Um no, I uh, left my laptop there. Sorry," Madge said and awkwardly gestured towards the table in front of her. She could feel her face flush an unattractive shade of red under Johanna's impatient stare and Gale's amused one. She glanced towards Gale, wondering if he had seen her when he had been with Glimmer. Johanna cleared her throat and Madge jumped. "I'll just..," Madge shuffled forward awkwardly and grabbed what she had came for. She nodded towards Gale and Johanna in a gesture of goodbye, but got no response from either of them other than Johanna's raised eyebrows and Gale's growing knowing smirk.

Madge walked away with her face resembling the color of a ripe tomato. She rushed out of the library for the second time that day, cursing her bad luck and Gale Hawthorne's womanizing tendencies.

* * *

Madge spent the next day trying her best to avoid Glimmer, Johanna, and Gale. It really wasn't all that hard since she barely had any classes with the three. Although Madge and Glimmer were both Sophomores they had no classes together because Madge was taking mostly Junior and Senior level AP courses, as recommended by her teachers last year. Johanna and Gale were both Seniors**, **but Madge only had AP Biology with Gale, and two classes (AP Literature and AP Psychology) with Johanna, who barely ever attended the classes anyways.

Madge was sure that Gale would approach her to warn her against telling the other two girls about each other during AP Biology, the one class they shared together. She had even prepared a righteous rant to deliver to him for when the moment came. She was quite proud of said rant, as she had made sure to include a heavy reminder of the importance of respect for women and just the right amount of scornful amounts attacking his big ego. She had it all planned out-she would deliver her rant, Gale would walk away with his head ducked and tail between his legs, and Madge would become the legendary figure for all females of their District. Johanna Mason, the ice princess herself, would even manage to deliver an awkward but meaningful thank you.

But of course, things didn't quite work out that way.

Her first period class came and went and Madge was now seated at her desk in AP Biology with her fists clenched to hide her already sweating palms. She was used to directing attention away rather than towards herself, and the idea of giving Gale Hawthorne a good scolding in front of the whole Biology class both scared and thrilled her at the same time.

The warning bell rang and Gale was still not in class. Madge assumed that he was planning on skipping and couldn't decide if the emotion that caused her shoulders to slump was one of relief or disappointment.

But then, seconds before the actual school bell went off, Gale sauntered into the room with his usual confident smirk in place. Madge straightened in her seat and steeled her mind to prepare herself to deliver her planned speech. Her heart thudding at a hundred miles per hour, she watched as he approached her desk. Just as she opened her mouth to carry out her grand plan, he bent down to whisper in her ear, "Pretty dress."

She heard him chuckle before he slipped into the seat behind her and just like that Madge's ability to form a coherent thought, much less than her ability to scold him, flew out of the window.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. This one will be updated more frequently because I've been thinking about this story for quite a while and I have most of the plotting down. Please follow/favorite/review for more!:)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.**

The feeling of Gale's lips ever so slightly brushing against her ear haunted Madge for the rest of the day. It was all she could think about. Her right hand seemed to have a mind of its own because it kept on reaching up to pat the spot his lips had touched, as if to make sure Gale's lips weren't still attached to her. Her other hand was constantly smoothing out the ends of her dress. It wasn't anything special really, just a simple white dress worn under a jean jacket. She had worn it a number of times before today and Gale had never bothered to compliment her.

Madge knew that it was completely ridiculous of her to be spending more than five seconds thinking about a two-worded compliment from a boy —especially when she had seen said boy making out with two other girls less than twenty four hours ago. But it was rare for Madge to receive a compliment and she couldn't help herself as she replayed his words in her head over and over again.

_'Pretty dress, pretty dress, pretty dress...'_

In her dazed state, Madge failed to pay attention to where she was going in the hallways and bumped into somebody. She mumbled out a half hearted apology and moved to continue on her way to her eighth period class until she felt a sharp tug on her ponytail preventing her from moving forward.

"Ow!" she yelped and turned around. Her bewildered expression was almost immediately replaced with a scared one.

Madge could practically feel herself shrinking as Johanna Mason loomed over her. Although Johanna was barely a head taller than Madge, the girl's dark makeup, intimidating reputation, and smirk made her look like a skyscraper in Madge's eyes. Madge waited with wide eyes for Johanna to... well, Madge wasn't entirely sure what she was waiting for. Did Johanna know about Glimmer and Gale? Was she here to threaten information out of Madge about them? Madge shuddered at the thought of Johanna actually making an effort to be threatening when her presence itself was already threatening enough.

"Um, hi," was the genius greeting Madge managed to come up with when Johanna made no move to talk first or to let her go.

"Hello," Johanna's smirk grew. There was a certain edge to it that gave Madge the feeling that this was Johanna's attempt at a friendly smile.

"Did you need something?" Madge's words could have passed as being defiant and confident if they had been spoken in her normal pitch instead of three octaves higher than her usual voice.

"Maybe."

"Oh. Well I need to get to class because the bell is going to ring..," Madge paused as the bell indicating the start of eighth period, as if on cue, went off. When the shrill sound came to a stop she finished her sentence weakly, "soon."

Johanna didn't seem to be bothered by the bell. As far as Madge could see cutting class was one of Johanna's favorite past times, second only to her hobby of making freshman cry after yelling at them for walking in the hallways too slowly. Madge on the other hand was completely new to this and was doing everything she could to stop herself from hyperventilating. She had never been tardy for class before. Her eyes darted around the hall in hopes that there would be a teacher to round the corner any second now to chase them back into class. Anything to get away from Johanna.

"Oh relax, I don't bite. What were you doing in the library yesterday?" Johanna asked, leaning against the wall comfortably. Her relaxed pose didn't fool Madge however and she was sure that the other girl wouldn't hesitate to stop her by the hair again if she tried to walk away.

"I was studying."

"Studying? At the library?"

The look of disgust on Johanna's face was almost comical. Madge was used to getting scorned for her rigorous study habits and the line of defense that escaped her mouth next was purely instinctual.

"Yes, studying. That's what people usually do at the library."

"Not me," Johanna said with a suggestive grin and Madge got an unwanted flashback of Johanna and Gale swapping saliva. It was Madge's turn to look disgusted and Johanna laughed.

"So Madge," Madge jumped when Johanna said her name. She hadn't been expecting the other girl to know her by name-most people didn't. The small size of their school was enough for most people to vaguely recognize Madge, but few people bothered remembering her first name. People usually referred to her as the Mayor's daughter or by her surname. Also, Johanna didn't seem like the type of person who bothered knowing the names of people like Madge. "I need you to do me a little favor."

"_You_ need a favor from _me_?"

"Yeah. Well, Hawthorne and I do. What you saw yesterday... keep quiet about it okay?"

"Um, sure," Madge replied. As soon as Johanna asked her for the favor Madge could guess what was going on. Gale and Glimmer were probably an item and Johanna was most likely the 'other girl'. Madge wasn't much of a gossiper so she didn't have any outside sources to confirm her theory, but it made sense right?

"I couldn't care less, but Hawthorne is insisting on keeping our relationship on the down low. Something about his Mom and football and all that."

Madge silently ruled out her previous theory. So maybe it was the other way around? Maybe Johanna was the unassuming girl who was being cheated on and Glimmer was the scarlet women. Madge shook her head in disbelief. She had always thought that this kind of thing only existed in books or movies.

"I understand," Madge found herself saying despite her confusion.

"Thanks," Johanna said. Madge couldn't help but notice that Johanna looked almost embarrassed as she said that one word. The tinge of red looked so foreign next to her mouth that was always smirking. But then Johanna cleared her throat and she was back to the tough girl Madge was used to seeing and hearing about. "Hawthorne was supposed to talk to you after third period but he said he didn't get a chance because he was too late to talk before class and you ran off after class."

"Oh," Madge said with a small blush. So that explained Gale's sudden approach this morning.

"I don't know why he insisted on warning you to keep your mouth shut anyways," she added with a roll of her eyes. "I mean, it's not like anyone's going to believe you."

She said it in such a matter-of-fact way that Madge almost forgot to be offended by her words.

"Did you really have to keep me from class to tell me this though?" Madge asked. It had been a couple of minutes since the bell had rung and she really needed to get back to class now. Mr. Chaff, Madge's eighth period AP Literature teacher, had announced that he was giving a lecture on Pride and Prejudice in class today and it was something Madge didn't want to miss. She had read the novel by herself many times before and held high opinions about it, but looked forward to hearing her teacher's point of view about it.

"Trust me, I did you a favor," Johanna said with a smug smirk that was clear that she was waiting for Madge to gush out her thanks. "Good ol' Chaff is supposed to be yapping about some stupid book today. He was probably so excited to start that he pissed his pants and forgot to take attendance. No need to thank me, consider it a little gift from me to you for not telling."

Madge couldn't bring herself to say that she was actually looking forward to Mr. Chaff's lecture. Instead, she gave Johanna a weak smile. She was sure that Johanna would laugh behind her back, or maybe even in front of her face, for saying that she wanted to go back to class anyways.

Before Madge could make a decision on whether to sacrifice her pride and insist on going back to class or to try to pretend she was a normal teenager and force out words to convey her fake gratitude, she heard somebody call out to them from the end of the hallway.

"Hey! Are you two skipping class?"

"Damn it," Johanna muttered under her breath the same time Madge gave a fearful squeak.

Madge could only stand by in terror as Johanna attempted to smooth talk them out of trouble. Unluckily for Madge, the teacher who had caught them seemed to be familiar with Johanna's habit of skipping and disapproved of it immensely.

"Attendance is crucial to your high school academic career, Miss Mason!" the teacher said for about the fifteenth time. He even waved around a hand for good measure.

Madge nodded along with great enthusiasm in hopes of flattering him enough with her silent gestures of agreement so that he would let them go without punishment.

Johanna however, seemed to be tired with the teacher's nagging. After rolling her eyes numerous times in an exaggerated manner she finally snapped, "Oh fine, give me my punishment and get it over with. Just stop talking."

Madge gaped at her, shocked at her blatant rudeness. The teacher only sighed and shook his head, apparently used to Johanna's attitude. He fished out a pad of blue paper from his back pocket and wrote on two of them before handing them to each of the girls.

"Detention. Right after school in room D102. Don't be late or you'll get another one. Now go to class you two."

"But sir-," Madge burst out in sheer panic. She could _not_ get a detention-detention was for troubled kids and Madge Undersee was anything but troubled. She was a straight A student who read Victorian novels in her free time for God's sake.

But she couldn't find the right way to defend herself under the teacher's impatient look. After a while, her mouth shut on its own accord and her shoulders slumped with resignation. "Never mind," she mumbled.

The teacher gave one last harrumph before stalking away, calling out a reminder for them to get to class before he rounded the corner.

"That was pathetic," Johanna told Madge with a snort. "You didn't even try to get out of it."

Madge turned to the other girl in disbelief. How could she be laughing at a time like this? Madge even started to feel a familiar feeling of wetness in her eyes. She blinked furiously, telling herself that she could not cry in front of Johanna Mason.

"I'm going to class," she told Johanna and started to walk away. She reached up to swipe at her eyes in what she hoped was a discreet manner.

"See you in detention," Johanna said as Madge walked away. "Hey, are you _crying?_"

Madge refused to answer and quickened her pace, wondering how in the world she had gotten mixed up with the likes of Johanna Mason in the first place.

**A/N: Hey everybody! Thank you so, so, so much for your encouraging reviews. It really helped to read over them whenever I had to get over my writer's block. I know this chapter was a bit of a filler, but it was necessary to the plot development. I promise the next chapter will be much more exciting! (I already have most of it written so keep an eye out for the next update hehe).**

**Okay so I'm new to the fanfiction/online writing world and I just recently discovered what a beta was. I think it'd be immensely helpful to have one for this story since I suck at proofreading my own work (as you may or may not have noticed) and I take forever doing it. Updates will be quicker and there would be less mistakes if I had a beta-I'm excited by the idea already! So if you're interested in beta-ing? this story, please send me a PM or contact me through my tumblr (kkaylawrites. the direct link is also on my fanfic bio). I'd definitely be willing to beta your work in exchange. Also, yes I am aware that I can find a beta on my own through , but I think it'd be better for somebody who has already shown interest in this story to beta it. **

**Thank you so much for your time and interest. Reviews/Rates are always appreciated:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**HUGE shoutout and thank you to Katie (Beginners on here, kiliandtauriel on tumblr) for offering to be my beta! Seriously, this chapter would have been a huge mess of awkward sentence fragments without her magical powers of editing.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize.**

Detention was not as scary as Madge thought it would be. She walked into the classroom she had been told to go to and was almost shocked to see that it was just another classroom, not the dungeon cell she had been expecting to see. There were no torture devices in visible sight, not counting the stereotypical motivational posters plastered onto the walls that read things like 'No Pain, No Gain' and 'You can do it.'

Even the people seemed harmless enough. There were even some recognizable faces in the class, though none that she could say she knew other than by reputation. In one corner of the room was a boy named Marvel who Madge recognized from her gym class in the seventh grade. She couldn't remember ever having a conversation with him, but she did remember that he was harmless enough. Seated behind Madge was Cato, who was exactly the type of troublemaker that Madge had been expecting to see in detention.

Johanna wasn't in the room yet, but neither was the teacher in charge. A glance towards the whiteboard in the front of the room told Madge that the teacher responsible for watching over them was Mr. A. Madge tried but couldn't figure out who that could be. The only teacher she knew of with a last name that started with the letter A was Ms. Anderson.

The sudden sound of the classroom door opening interrupted Madge's thoughts. She looked up to see who she assumed to be the mysterious Mr. A. He was slightly overweight and a head of unruly blonde hair that matched the color of the stubble on his chin. He was in need of a good makeover (or at least a bath) and didn't look anything like the teachers Madge was accustomed to seeing and respecting at school.

The sight of the unconventional teacher was enough to send Madge into shock. But when she saw who entered the classroom after him, Madge almost fell out of her seat.

"Do I really need to be here?"

Madge watched through wide eyes as Glimmer glared at the teacher. Mr. A ignored her and turned to address the rest of the students in detention instead.

"Alright. My name's Mr. Abernathy and I'm stuck with you delinquents for the next hour. Just try not to blow up the classroom and we'll get along swimmingly." He then impatiently gestured for Glimmer to take a seat. The girl made a noise of frustration in the back of her throat, but reluctantly plopped down into the seat next to Madge when it was clear that she wasn't going to be let out. Madge couldn't help herself as she subconsciously scooted away.

Her interaction with Johanna a couple of hours ago had already been pushing Madge's social skills for the day. There was a reason why Madge didn't make a habit out of talking to girls like Johanna and Glimmer; girls Gale Hawthorne deemed kissable. It was the unspoken rule of high school that girls like Madge strayed clear of girls like them. Usually she was good with sticking to the status quo, but today for some reason Glimmer and Johanna were making it very difficult for her.

"I'm missing cheer practice for this," Glimmer announced in a loud voice. She shot Mr. Abernathy a dirty look and Madge assumed that it had been he who had given her detention. Madge wondered what the other girl had done to land herself in detention, because Mr. Abernathy looked like the type of teacher to ignore minor offences simply because he was too lazy to fill out the paperwork for putting students in detention. "As captain, I really should be there for my team to prep for our competition this week."

"You should've thought of that before you decided to engage in inappropriate activities with your lover boy on school grounds."

Madge glanced at Glimmer, wondering if the girl had been with Gale again.

Madge also took this moment to thank the heavens for Johanna's unhealthy habit of skipping any school related events. If Gale kept on making a habit of canoodling with his numerous girlfriends on school grounds, it was inevitable that the girls would find out about each other. Madge was determined not to involve herself with this silly love triangle any more, especially since the little involvement she had had resulted in Johanna seeking her out and getting her into the first detention in her life.

Mr. Abernathy started listing the rules of detention in a lifeless, monotone voice. He started listing off the rules, yet pointedly ignored Marvel's blatantly obvious use of his cell phone.

He was just starting to tell them that sneaking out in the middle would only result in them landing another detention, when the door opened once again.

Madge watched with dread as Johanna's combat boots stepped into the classroom. She was surprised that Johanna had made a rare effort to actually show up today of all days. Somebody up there seemed to be determined to make Madge's life as miserable as possible by making every worst case scenario a reality.

"Mr. Abernathy, you're needed in the office," Johanna said. It was obvious, even to Madge, that this was a poorly delivered lie.

Mr. Abernathy stared at Johanna for a moment, as if he was having an internal debate with himself on whether it was worth fighting Johanna about this or not, before giving a noncommittal shrug and walking towards the door.

"No talking, no cell phones, and no ditching," he warned the rest of them before stepping out of the classroom. "And stay alive."

Madge watched in disbelief as he walked out of the room without even a second glance back. He was probably the most irresponsible teacher she had ever seen.

When the door shut close behind Mr. Abernathy, Johanna gave her a wide grin and raised her hand in front of her face. Madge stared for a couple of seconds before raising her own hand to hesitantly tap it against Johanna's.

"That was pathetic," Johanna said disapprovingly. Madge wasn't quite sure if she was just teasing her or not. "I come back all the way here because I feel bad about getting you into detention and all I get is a half-assed high five?"

"Sorry?"

Johanna grinned, and Madge relaxed. It felt good to laugh with somebody and Madge almost forgot her goal of never talking to Johanna, Glimmer, or Gale again until she heard Glimmer's high pitched giggle join Johanna's throaty chuckle.

"That was like, awesome of you," Glimmer said to Johanna. "Seriously, I owe you one. I thought I'd actually be stuck here for a whole hour."

Madge stiffened at sound of Glimmer's voice and prayed that the girl would just walk away to her cheer practice. She had sounded so desperate to go to practice before, so why was she still here?

"No problem," Johanna replied with what looked like a forced smile.

It came as a surprise to Madge that Johanna didn't seem to like the other girl. Although they were polar opposites, they were both confident and fairly popular. Madge had always thought that having those two things in common was enough for two girls to form somewhat of a friendship.

"I don't even know why I was forced into this place anyways," Glimmer continued as Madge watched on nervously. "I mean, making out with my boyfriend isn't a crime now is it?"

"Er guys," Madge spoke up nervously, afraid that if they started talking any more they would find out what (or rather who) they had in common. "Shouldn't we leave now?"

Johanna nodded and moved towards the door, but Glimmer just _wouldn't stop talking._

"I mean, it's not my fault that my boyfriend's a total babe. You wouldn't be able to keep your hands off of him either if you knew who he was."

"Who is he then?" Johanna didn't look all that interested, but she seemed to be humoring Glimmer.

"Oh, I really shouldn't tell. It's supposed to be a secret," Glimmer giggled.

"And secrets are meant to be kept to yourself!" Madge piped up eagerly.

"But if you insist I tell...," Glimmer pretended like Madge hadn't spoken, and Madge resisted the urge to slap her palm against her mouth to stop the disaster that she knew was coming.

"Yes, please do tell. I'm just dying to know," Johanna said with mock enthusiasm, rolling her eyes to Madge. Glimmer didn't notice, or at least pretended that she didn't.

"It's-"

"Finnick! Finnick Odair, right?" Madge interrupted in a panicked voice. She faced Glimmer and tried to deliver her warning through a wink, which was unfortunately a skill she never mastered, and it only made her look like she was constipated. So she really couldn't blame Glimmer for giving her a disgusted look before ignoring her again.

"Gale Hawthorne," Glimmer pronounced his name like a tender caress.

Madge groaned to herself and buried her face into her hands. Even so, she could practically hear Johanna's silence fill up the room.

"Excuse you?" Johanna finally spoke up in a deadly quiet voice.

"You heard me," Glimmer said with obvious pride in her voice. Madge peeked through her fingers to see the other girl flip her golden hair over her shoulder. She must have mistook Johanna's response as one of admiring shock rather than a furious one. "I'm dating Gale Hawthorne."

"Bullshit. You're lying."

Glimmer giggled, apparently still oblivious to the ice in Johanna's voice.

"No I'm not! I know it's hard to believe since he never dates, but come on, let's be real. I'm the head cheerleader-we're meant to be. It's practically written in the stars."

"No, you're wrong. Because Gale Hawthorne is _my_ boyfriend."

There was another pause of deadly silence in the room. Madge whimpered from behind her hands and glanced back and forth between the two girls who were glaring furiously at each other.

"I'm going to give you one chance to take back your lies and we can pretend like this never happened," Johanna interrupted the silence first in a cool voice. "Apologize, and you'll look less like a fool."

"Funny, you're stealing the words right out of my mouth."

"Or we can all just leave now and pretend like this never happened!" Madge stepped in between the two heated girls in a more forward attempt to break up the oncoming fight.

"Stay out of this nerd," Johanna snarled, stepping forward and easily shoving Madge out of the way. The good mood she claimed to have before now nowhere in sight. "Or are you going to start claiming that Hawthorne's _your_ boyfriend too?"

"You're crazy! Fucking delusional!" Glimmer shrieked in a voice so high that Madge couldn't help but wince at the sound. She was surprised that the windows didn't break.

"You're the one who's delusional here if you think that Hawthorne would ever lower his standards to some stuck up, snobby, air head you," Johanna said. A nasty smirk climbed onto her face as Glimmer let out an affronted noise that was a mix of a shriek and a gasp. "Besides. He prefers brunettes over blondes."

"Oh yeah? If Gale wasn't my boyfriend and if he preferred brunettes over blondes—which is completely ridiculous—why would he tell me that my hair reminds him of the sun's warm light in the beginning of spring, which also happens to be his favorite season? Not that _you_ would know."

"Actually, I do know that spring is his favorite season. I also know that it's his favorite season because it's the only time of the year when he doesn't have to worry about the heating or air conditioning bills," Johanna said. Madge winced at Johanna's words, feeling the blow of Johanna's use of Town versus the Seam card despite the fact that the words were meant to hurt the other townie. In fact, Madge looked to be more affected by Johanna's words than Glimmer herself.

"You're just jealous because Gale and I obviously belong with each other. I'm the school's head cheerleader and he's a football star. All_ you _are is some dead beat girl with a boy's haircut."

Johanna growled and leaned forward on the balls of her feet as if she was going to pounce on Glimmer at a moment's notice.

It was obvious that what started out as a verbal argument was quickly going to escalate to a physical one. She glanced towards the door in a panic, hoping that Mr. Abernathy would finally come back. When the door showed no signs of reopening however, Madge turned her hopes on the other bystanders. Marvel was nowhere in sight and had probably left the classroom unnoticed soon after Mr. Abernathy had left. Cato was very much still present and actually looked excited by the two girls about to rip each other's throats out. Madge vaguely heard him say something that sounded suspiciously like, "Catfight. That's so hot."

"Stop, stop!" Madge cried out uselessly, her voice bordering on the line of hysteria. Neither girl bothered paying her any attention.

Surprisingly enough, Glimmer made the first move.

"You slut!" she screamed as she charged, her arm raised to go for a slap across the cheek.

Johanna easily dodged out of the way since she had been expecting the attack and grabbed Glimmer's hair, much like she had grabbed Madge's hair when they had talked, except a whole lot more roughly. "You don't want to mess with me Blondie!"

Johanna yelped when Glimmer managed to sneak in a kick to her shin. She then retaliated by tugging on the other girl's hair ruthlessly, drawing a high pitched shriek.

"You shouldn't be fighting each other! He's the one cheating on you both!" Madge cried out in yet another fruitless attempt to calm the girls down. Oh god, why did she come to school today? She should have moved to another district the second she saw Gale Hawthorne making out with two girls in a row.

"Gale-loves-me! He would never cheat on me," Glimmer yelled out between her slaps on any part of Johanna's body she could reach.

"No, Gale loves _me_," Johanna snarled. She had lost hold of Glimmer's hair, but was desperately trying to grab it again. "He said that we have an unspoken bond!"

"Yeah, well he told me that he loves how secure I am about our relationship, even if it is a secret!" Glimmer screamed into Johanna's face.

"HE TOLD ME I'M THE ONLY GIRL FOR HIM!" the two girls screamed in unison.

There was a period of silence following this ground breaking revelation: Gale Hawthorne had fed both girls the same lines of bullshit and they had both fallen for it-hard.

"What the hell is going on here?" Mr. Abernathy finally returned. He opened the door with too much force and it banged into the wall. He took in the two girl's tussled hair and overall mussed up appearances, along with the panicked look on Madge's face and the drool coming out of Cato's mouth. Madge waited for Mr. Abernathy to act like the responsible adult he was and solve the conflict, but all he said was, "I'm too sober for this. Detention's over, get out of here."

Madge stared at Mr. Abernathy in disbelief. That was it? A glance towards the clock told her that it hadn't even been a full hour since detention had started.

But then a voice in the back of her head reminded her that this was a good thing. It was the perfect opportunity to make a run for it in case Johanna and Glimmer got into another brawl. If she couldn't stop it, the next best thing for Madge to do was to avoid it.

Without another moment of hesitation, Madge grabbed her backpack and hurried out of the classroom. She got a whiff of a rather unappealing odor as she passed by Mr. Abernathy and she made a mental note to herself to avoid this classroom for the rest of her high school career.

As she speed walked out of the hallway, she heard somebody calling after her-probably Johanna, since Madge doubted that Glimmer knew her name.

"Undersee! Hey, Undersee! Get back here!"

Madge only quickened her pace and didn't stop walking until she reached the front porch of her house. Even then, she glanced around her just in case the two girls had followed her back home. It was highly unlikely, but the past twenty four hours had been full of even odder events.

Madge sighed in relief when it was clear that neither girl was going to pop out of her front porch. She spent the rest of the day in the familiar comfort of her large pile of homework and her selection of favorite shows on Netflix.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter! The plot is definitely starting to pick up now. Feedback is always more than welcome:)**


	4. Chapter 4

An exciting day for most students of Panem High school usually consisted of making fun of Vice Principal Trinket's faux accent during the announcements and trying their best not to get caught as they snuck out of class. Earlier that day however, Johanna Mason managed to singlehandedly revamp the school's definition of the word 'exciting'. This incident had occurred in the middle of the student commons right before first period, first thing in the morning. Madge hadn't been there to witness the incident first hand, but she had heard so much about it throughout the day that she felt like she had been standing a foot away from Johanna herself.

"Sorry, babe. We're done. You're hot and all but this just isn't working out. It's you, not me—you really should get that_ problem _of yours checked out. I have an uncle who specializes in that sort of thing that you could call for help."

Those were the exact words that escaped Johanna's mouth, sending the rest of Panem High into a gossip frenzy.

The first topic that the student population was talking about in hushed tones was Johanna and Gale's now terminated relationship that had seemingly came out of nowhere. As popular as Gale was with the female population, no girl had ever had the honor of calling herself his girlfriend due to his avoidance of labels. Had it been any other girl who claimed the renowned title, she would have been scorned without a second thought. But this wasn't just any other girl; this was Johanna Mason, so nobody dared to contradict her as she marched through the hallway with her head held high.

The second topic that Madge heard about all day was Gale's so-called problem that had caused the breakup of the ex-couple. There had been rumors circulating all day that he had a disgusting case of toe fungus, that he had a weird fetish that scared even Johanna away, and Madge's favorite one, that he was a baby daddy, father to the son of a hooker. Unlike the rest of the student population, Madge knew exactly what Gale's problem was and it was none of those things.

In reality, his problem was much more boring than the elaborate theories people managed to come up with: he simply couldn't keep it in his pants.

Madge smiled to herself as she overheard a group of Freshman girls whispering amongst themselves in the library. She didn't mean to really, but the girls were talking in loud voices that traveled in the library walls.

"I heard Johanna broke up with Gale because he has an extra toe on his left foot."

"Are you kidding me? That boy could have hooves as feet and girls would still be all over him."

One girl wearing a pink headband leaned in and Madge found herself straining her ears to catch the girl's next words that were spoken in a conspiratorial whisper.

"I think he plays for the other team, if you know what I mean."

There was a collection of shocked gasps that followed the whispered declaration. The other girls voiced their disbelief and looked personally offended.

"It makes sense," the girl wearing the headband said with a self assuring nod. Madge watched while stifling her giggles as the girl leaned back into her chair with complete ease, clearly enjoying the way the other girls were giving her their full attention. "I mean, spending so much time in the football locker rooms gotta affect a guy sooner or later."

"Gale Hawthorne is_ not_ gay!" one of the other girls squealed in indignation.

A bark of laughter escaped Madge and she quickly disguised her laughter as a coughing fit. The group of Freshman girls barely spared her a glance before continuing on with their heated debate.

"Why not? You have to admit that it's pretty suspicious how he's never had a girlfriend. Plus, he's always with that Thom guy."

"And his jeans are kind of tight now that I think about it," one girl with an abnormally large mouth chimed in. "Like, really tight."

"The hot ones are always gay," another girl, one out of Madge's line of sight, said with a sad sigh.

"I knew he was too good to be true," the girl with an abnormally large mouth spoke up again. Madge could swear that she heard the girl sniffle.

The girls all shared a glum look and trudged out of the library, leaving Madge alone in the library, her body shaking with silent laughter.

* * *

"Johanna Mason stole my thunder."

Madge jumped when a hand with polished nails slammed down onto her lunch table. She stared down at the hand, stunned because couldn't ever remember anybody approaching her table before. On the rare days that she ate at the cafeteria instead of the library, her only companions were her notes and books. Madge swallowed the bite of her sandwich she had been chewing on before glancing up, unsurprised but wary of the sight of Glimmer glaring down at her.

"I don't know who you are, but I saw you talking with Mason yesterday. I need you to pass on a message."

Madge glanced around the cafeteria, seeing the many shocked expressions of the other students in the cafeteria, obviously wondering why the Queen Bee was talking to the invisible Mayor's daughter. Madge herself wondered if the shock of discovering that she was being cheated on had knocked the rules of the high school status quo out of Glimmer's head.

"I-Johanna and I aren't friends," Madge stuttered out, shocked that the other girl actually thought that she of all people was friends with _the_ Johanna Mason.

"Who does she think she is? First she has the audacity to go claim my boy friend of two months as hers. Then she breaks up with him first?_ I_ was going to break up with him._ I_ was supposed to break his heart and embarrass him in public! How dare she screw with my plans?"

Madge couldn't help but wonder to herself how exactly Glimmer would break the heart of somebody who was cheating on her, but didn't dare to voice her thoughts. Besides, it didn't seem like Glimmer was waiting for Madge's input anyways.

"That skank thinks she owns this school just because people are afraid of her. Well newsflash, it's her awful fashion sense and that scowl on her face that scares away everybody, not her supposed bad ass reputation."

Madge's eyes widened as she caught sight of the familiar figure standing behind Glimmer. She tried to send Glimmer a telepathic message to stop talking by widening her eyes and ever so slightly shaking her head in small and quick movements, but all she managed to do was make her head look like it was vibrating.

"Seriously, if Mason was half the bad ass the rumors make her out to be, she wouldn't have broken up with Gale with a single line. Like, really? That was the best she could do to the boy who supposedly cheated on her?"

"Talk louder, won't you? I think people in China couldn't hear you."

Madge would have missed the look of fear and shock that graced Glimmer's face for a fraction of a second if she hadn't been anticipating it. To her credit however, Glimmer recovered quickly before turning around to face the brunette with full confidence.

"I've got a bone to pick with you, Mason," Glimmer said in an icy tone, looking more than ready to continue their fight that had occurred during detention. Madge cringed, but her look of wary anticipation soon morphed into one of confusion when Johanna didn't so much as look at Glimmer, much less than insult her back.

"Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time. Now move."

Johanna shoved Glimmer out of the way so that she was standing directly in front of Madge. Glimmer gave an affronted shriek, but Johanna paid her no attention. She was too busy glaring down at Madge with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Madge had thought it impossible for Johanna to get any more terrifying, but that was before she had seen the girl looming down at her looking like she was about to breathe fire out of her mouth and burn Madge into crisps.

"I've been thinking, Undersee. How did you know Hawthorne was cheating on us?"

"What?" Madge asked. She felt her fists clenching without her control, and she attempted to loosen her grip so that she wouldn't completely destroy her sandwich.

"You knew, didn't you? Yesterday, when I was busting your ass out of detention you tried to stop Blondie over there from telling me Hawthorne's name," Johanna jutted her chin towards Glimmer's direction, who was now joining Johanna's game of glaring down at Madge. "And you put it together before either of us did. So what gives? You hooking up with Hawthorne too?"

"No!" Madge protested, but Johanna wasn't done yet. It seemed like she had thought about this for quite a bit, because the words seemed to roll off of her tongue effortlessly before stabbing Madge's heart like knives.

"Yeah, you're right. Even that cheating bastard wouldn't stoop so low for a nobody like you-not when he had us. So you must be an accomplice. You and Hawthorne get together and giggle over how pathetic we are? How _hilarious_ it is that he's leading on two girls behind each other's backs?"

Madge shook her head and opened her mouth to defend herself, but Johanna plowed on.

"Was it your idea? To humiliate the prettier, more popular girls by teaming up with Hawthorne? I knew there was something fishy going on when I saw you at the library."

"I was trying to study," Madge tried to explain, but Johanna interrupted yet again with a scoff.

"Please. At least try to come up with a decent excuse."

Madge wasn't sure if she should be laughing or crying. Evidently the idea of Madge teaming up with Gale Hawthorne to ruin Johanna and Glimmer's lives was more believable than the idea of her studying in the library.

"I was at the library to study. I left when I saw Gale with Glimmer but then I came back for my laptop and saw you and him together."

If Madge had been braver, she would've added that it should be her blaming them to choosing such a public place for their activities rather than it being the other way around and them blaming her for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"Oh my god," Johanna made a sudden move and Madge couldn't help but wince and expect a heavy blow to hit her face. Much to her surprise however, Johanna's hand never made contact with her face. Madge let out a small breath, relieved that she was no longer under the older girl's icy glare.

"Oh my god," Johanna repeated, facing Glimmer now."You were with him that day?"

Glimmer hesitated, but recovered by nodding and jutting out her hip to one side in a somewhat convincing act of confidence. "Yes, I was. And she was there too." Glimmer nodded towards Madge, who looked at the other girl in surprise. She had thought that Glimmer had been too preoccupied to notice her that day. Madge felt her face flush once she realized that Glimmer and Gale had probably been wondering why she hadn't vacated her seat when they started making out.

"I thought he tasted like cherry. I _told_ him that I could taste cherry on his lips. I made fun of him, telling him that wearing chap stick wasn't manly. But that was you, wasn't it?"

Johanna made a sound of disgust as Glimmer nodded again.

"That bastard," Johanna snarled. She turned back to Madge, but whatever her next words were, they were drowned out by the shrill ringing of the bell signaling the end of lunch. Madge hastily made her escape, stuffing her barely eaten sandwich into her lunchbox while mumbling that she needed to talk to one of her teachers. She walked away as quickly as she could without breaking into a full out run.

"This isn't over, Undersee! We're going to continue this talk later," Johanna called after Madge. Madge ducked her head and pretended like she couldn't hear her words and the whispers of the other students who heard Johanna screaming across the cafeteria.

Why was it that every time she talked to somebody, she ended up running away?

**AN: Thank you so much to those of you who have been supporting this story so far! A lot of you have been asking if this story was going to be following the plot line of the movie, and my answer is no. The only thing I'm really using from the movie is the whole 'girls team against playboy' thing. **

**Special thanks go Katie for reading over this beforehand! And of course, a huge thank you to those of you who reviewed/favorited/followed. **


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